That's My Job
by tinks-belle85
Summary: When young Raph has a bad dream, he goes to Splinter for answers. As he grows up, the words Splinter told him that night stay with him.


Hi! I'm back with my second TMNT fic. I thought "Eyes of a Child" was the only one I'd write, but these guys just pull you in! I've got at least two more I want to write! I hope you enjoy this one. Again, if someone else wrote anything similar, I'm not copying you. I got this idea when listening to "That's My Job" by Conway Twitty, which is where the title came from. Hope you enjoy. Reviews are appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the ninja turtles.

This chapter is Raph's POV, which will probably carry on through most of this short story. He's thinking back to this time.

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_Chapter 1_

**That's My Job**

I woke up crying one night when I was about five years old. My brothers were all still asleep when I looked around the room, and, at that moment, I never felt more alone in my life. Their soft snoring made me realize that the dream I had was really was just that; a dream. Actually, it was more like a nightmare, the worst one I'd ever had to this day.

Pulling off the blanket that covered me, I jumped out of the ragged old bed I shared with Michelangelo. My feet told me that the floor was freezing, so I wasted no time in walking across our bedroom and out into the lair. It was late fall and down in the sewers the temperature would always be less than what the people above ground would feel, plus, we did not have a heater.

I made my way over to Master Splinter's room pretty quick because by this point, I was about to lose the feeling in my feet. Half of me did not want to do it, but the other, louder half pushed ahead, and I knocked on Splinter's door. Not hearing anything, I tried again, knocking a little louder. While waiting, I could barely make out my cold breath appearing in the dark air. I wrapped my arms around myself to keep warm and gently jogged in place. Finally I could hear a low noise from inside the room I wanted to enter, and heard the voice I needed to hear at that moment.

"Come in"

At those words, I felt so much better. Opening the door, I saw Master Splinter sitting up in bed. His face was tired and concerned as he looked at me.

"What's wrong, Raphael" he asked.

I did not say anything; just wandered over to the bed and looked at him with the tears I woke up with still on my face. Master Splinter moved over, knowing that I wanted to join him. I climbed up beside him and sat. He looked down at me and repeated his question. "What is wrong, Raphael?"

I really wanted an answer to my question, but did not know how my father would take it. So, as always, I took the chance. "Master Splinter, are you gonna…die?"

I'll never forget the look on his face when I asked that question. It was a mixture of sadness, shock, and understanding. He took a while before he spoke. I never knew if it was because he didn't know what to say or if he didn't want to say it. "What brought this question on?" he asked.

I remember what was going through my mind at that moment. I was thinking 'Should I tell him about the dream?' At that time, I did not have the best concept of death. Sure, I knew people died, animals died, but Master Splinter? I thought he would be around forever.

"I had a dream," I told him.

His face changed again. This time it was more curious than anything else. "Tell me about this dream." He said. It was kind of a disappointment that he did not answer my question and that he was not talking much, but then again, he did not usually have much to say unless I was in trouble. I was not in trouble right now and I hoped it would stay that way.

I took a deep breath and told him about everything I saw in my dream that I could remember. "I had a real bad dream that you died…" I paused there. I hated to say those words, but they had to be said in order for him to help me with these questions I had. "You died and left me and Mikey and Donny and Leo all by ourselves. We didn't know what to do without you. After you died, the others left and I was all by myself. They left me here by myself!"

Master Splinter pulled me closer to him and tried to comfort me. When I spoke that last sentence, I felt worse than when I said Splinter had died. "I was all alone without you or…or my bro'vers…or anyone. I don't wanna be alone." I said. "Are you really gonna die?"

"Raphael," Splinter began. "I have told all of you about death, haven't I? Remember the frog we found?"

My brothers and I found a frog in the sewers one day and decided to have a little game of catch. I laugh about it now, but when it happened it sure wasn't funny. See, the frog was doing fine until I threw him and Mikey missed. He didn't have a chance when he went flying though the air and then made contact with the cement wall. Man, that was a great pass…if only Mikey would have caught it.

He ran over to where the frog landed and picked him up. The frog wasn't moving. After each of us tried our hand at reviving him, we finally decided to go to Splinter. When Splinter saw the frog and heard us ask why he wasn't moving, he told us about death.

"I remember," I said, "but you're not a frog."

Splinter laughed at my innocent comment. "I most certainly am not a frog." He replied. Then his face turned serious. I knew he was about to say something very important when he got that look. "Although I am no frog, I am a living creature." He said. "Every living creature on Earth must die someday, Raphael."

"So, you are gonna die." I said, mostly to myself. "My dream is gonna come true."

"No," Master Splinter said sternly. "I told you that my time will come one day, but you're dream will not come true. You will never be alone my son. You have your brothers and, unlike your dream, they will never abandon you. I will not either."

I felt a little better when he told me that my brothers would not leave me, but another question still needed to be answered. "If everything that's alive has to die, that means I will too, right?" I asked.

He sighed and I knew it upset him to talk about this, but I needed to be sure. "Yes Raphael, you will. That is the only part of life you can be sure of. However, you are young and have many, many years ahead of you. You should not worry about the certain; only about what is uncertain."

That night is one of my favorite memories, along with the countless memories I have with my brothers. That night I discovered that I was not invincible as I once thought and still sometimes think today.

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A/N-** Hope you liked it. Review! I want to know if I should continue or leave it like it is. I have some ideas planned, but I don't know if I want to use them or not. Anyways, review for me! 


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